In the past, large-scale computing projects were limited to individuals and enterprises that owned large physical data centers with towering racks of computers. Now, distributed computing allows anyone with the resources to buy server space to run as many instances of their preferred computing device as desired. Further efficiency improvements have been introduced in the form of application containers that allow administrators to run applications without requiring the resources necessary to simulate an entire virtualized operating system for each virtualized application. Containers may reduce the processing requirements for each application, allowing a greater number of applications to be run on the same host. Containers can be used for anything from short-lived operations lasting minutes to long-lived operations lasting weeks or months, and can be configured to run a wide variety of applications in order to complete a wide variety of computing tasks.
Many traditional systems for container distribution make use of container images, static versions of the container code that are easily portable and that can be used to instantiate containers. Updating or otherwise modifying a container-based application that is generated from an image typically involves rebuilding the image and redistributing the new image to all the locations that host the container. Unfortunately, the process of rebuilding and redistributing an image can consume considerable computing resources and involve potentially undesirable delays. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for updating containers.